'28 Bees

[Aston]

past reports: (2018) End of the Wynn Era?, (2020) Draft Results, (2020) Bees Report, (2021) Utah Herald, (2022) Bumbling Bees, (2023) Ulmanac, (2024), (2025) like a dynasty, (2026) Bees Knees, (2027) and the Year of the Pelican

2028 | UTAH BEES!

The Bees are back in business! A review of our recent offseason themes...

2024 Major renegs. Skipped draft. Team halfway 'twixt young and old.
2025 Team begins transition with big draft & two round 1's. Top playmakers Foley & Giang in year 9.
2026 Transition continues. Exodus of Siragusa & Fletcher. Everyone dies in camp. Big-time draft.
2027 Everyone's old. ?? Draft.

2028 is now and the theme is discipline. Great BALLS this team is old. We hope all those years of playing together are going to reap some fruit.

The other reason we need discipline? The Boonicles Sword of Yore has returned and is dangling more dangerously over our heads than ever before. QB Randy Boone's contract history:

2018 Rookie sign, 4 years - $15.49mm
2021 5-year extension @ 41.92mm in early free agency
2023 Capout of the remaining 3 years of the '21 deal
2024 5-year extension @ 55.00mm in early free agency
2027 Capout of final 2 years of the '24 deal

Most successful players have a Big Contract. Top-flight QBs have a Death Contract. We've put off that Death One as long as we possibly could, but there's little way of avoiding it now. Boone is in the final year of his contract and requesting $101mm over 4 years.

If he doesn't hold out, Utah will be able to franchise him in the 2029 offseason and sign him either at free agency, or ideally, after TC.

If he does, those demands are going to blow up.

We're treading very dangerous waters here in the Salt Lake. We do intend to field a team around him still, but it's going to require some serious financial discipline.

Meanwhile, the chase for #7 begins...

[mike17]

Are you no longer the pelicans because you might lay an egg?

[Aston]

Aha! yea. Also it's been a while since they announced the N.O. Pelicans. Not really current events anymore :p The Bees are our tradition, although I like wearing alternate mascots every once in a while.

[Aston]

Boone deal heats up, then fizzles
April 9, 2028 | The Salty Daily Lake

Contract negotiations with Randy Boone heated up over draft weekend, with the team coming up with an offer that reportedly included as much as $60 million guaranteed over the next four years, but the sides parted without reaching a deal.

There's some suggestion, however, that the parties are not too far away.

"Randy's a trooper", said his agent, Peter Schaffer, who also represents six other Bees. "He's extremely loyal and he trusts that the franchise will do right by him, eventually. He's not the kind of player who would ever hold out of any training camp or even optional OTAs, even if I advised him to."

"Which I did, by the way," he added.

With the Boone camp all but giving up their considerable leverage and negotiating position, the doors appear open for Utah to use its cap space -- 6th most in the league -- to lock down its other long-term vets.

The team will now have the option of using the tag on Boone in the offseason, although that projects to be expensive. This year's QB tag comes in a cool $17.52 million, and the top quarterback's salary in 2029 will increase 20% to over $26 million.

Instead, it's more likely that the team will use the generous amount of in-season negotiating time now afforded to it, to get a deal done now for their star quarterback, and reserve a possible franchise tag for the end of his career, when it becomes less an insulting necessity and more a sensible reward.

Team projections indicate that a 4-year new deal now might only cost the Bees an extra $15 million this year, leaving it with more than enough cap space to work with (oops, I always do this. Coulda kept that 1.5, eh?) and is expected to cost roughly $20 million per season in 2029, 2030, and 2031, with most of the money guaranteed.

[Aston]

'28 Draft
Bees Digest Waxly

1.26 | G Ryan "The Thing" Thingvold | 26/43, 33%
Hehe, I wonder who endowed him with that nickname. I like it. :)
I don't even want to think about this one.

2.12 | WLB Tyrone Nelson | 18/25, 52%
This cat is 219 lbs and I need him to play SLB, but he can't even position switch there. Only to corner or safety.

2.26 | LT Antonio Mitting | 13/27, 42%
I think it's safe to say his block strength is actually 0.

4.10 | P Patrick Schwartz | 90/90, 62%
The crown jewel of this class. Yea baby.

4.32 | DE Omar McWilliams | 16/40, 24%
Here's where we started taking shots in the dark. McWilliams is a 6th round quality prospect, but we felt we needed to take him with that pick (and we did; SMD wanted him not long after). We invested heavy on DEs in last year's draft and light on DTs in the last ten drafts, so at 6'7, 290, we're going to try shuffling him inside.

6.28 | RB Josh Clovis | 27/36, 36%
There's still an outside chance he'll make the move to WR, but we're pretty set here and I think Clovis will be expected to provide backfield competition.

6.32 | CB Adam O'Neill | 11/12, 53%
Haha! This guy has a long way to unmask just to look like a bad backup.

7.23 | G Mercury Garcia | 12/34, 16%
Hearing a lot of bad things on this one. I doubt I'll even sign him.

7.27 | S Wayne Bouman | 8/31, 26%
The 7th round isn't bad place to grab insurance at a position where you are pretty deep. At these initial ratings though, I'll be very surprised if he threatens anybody.

7.28 | FB Michael King | 10/16, 36%
Took a shot at a guy we hoped to make a TE. Pretty sure that isn't happening, yikes.

7.29 | G Colin Cassidy | 19/31, 13%
I feel pretty good about him. Probably will see a move inside to center. Might leave him unsigned as insurance. He doesn't look particularly noteworthy.

7.32 | WR Juan Connelly | 14/33, 28%
Our second straight Mr. Irrelevant. He looks like he has some potential, initially. We're gonna have to wait and see on this one.

In other news, 11th year WR Hunter Vandersommen is holding out and wants a 3 year, 7.88 million deal with $2.05mm guaranteed. Vandersommen is already signed through '29, though, and at his age, we really don't expect to need to budge from our position on this one.

[Aston]

'28 Rookie Free Agents
and random TC guesses!

RB Trent Adams 27/35
We were looking for a potential replacement special teams back this year and found him in Trent Adams. Ended up paying him big salary, though. +2 cut test, I think he could go +4 in camp.

RB Trent Sawyer 17/31
Trimming down and making the move to WR after camp. If he can't stick there, he won't have a spot on the team. He has decent BPR, but he's much too heavy to move right now. Probably a +2 type camp, if that.

FB Joey Graham 17/29
Decent free agent pickup. I wish he looked a little bit better as a TE...Guessing a +3. Which'd be great if he had a BPR bar.

FB Marty Blake 11/51
We're bulking him and Graham up to check them out as TEs after camp. Blake definitely looks like he belongs there. I just hope he doesn't drop too steeply. I'm holding out hope, but this is probably a -4 type player.

TE Colin Frederick 10/18
Unlike the two FBs, this actual TE appears to be little other than a decent BPR bar. He'll go +3 and it won't mean anything.

WR Preston Butler 19/33
A no-combine WR with no cut test information for me. Gotta take a flyer. I think he's probably going to dip -2, though, or worse.

G Heath Burkhammer 12/29
As if I don't have enough guards. I can see a +4 here.

T Jerald Jamison 12/26
I was debating Jamison vs G Mercury Garcia in the draft, both as center prospects. Garcia is supposedly a complete bum, so Jamison is here to make up for that. Don't see anything beyond a +3, though.

T Raymond Garces 13/17
Another guy who probably ends up at center if he does anything special, but he's at LT for now in case something bad happens to my thin tackle situation in camp. Seems like a longshot....he could go +7 just to be average. I think he might have a shot at +5.

K Edward Stephens 20/39
Contract year for Troy Parrish, and Stephens is bringing the pressure. I can't see him making much noise in camp though. Maybe a +1. Maybe he'll VSOL or something.

DE Vincent Ostrander 22/27
Worthless as a run stopper, but shows some decent promise as a pass rusher. Might move inside to nose. I hope he does better than the +2 I'm expecting. He has nice pass rush strength, but his PRT really needs to get up there to match.

ILB Martin Barber 13/26
Cut test gave me almost no information. I don't know, he just looks really masked, like he could go +5. That'd be a pleasant surprise, and make him a run stopper in the middle. +3 is probably closer to the truth.

SLB Lonnie Bono 11/31
I like what I'm seeing here. Cole Motz who? I dunno, he can't rush the passer at all, so maybe I should move him inside. SILB seems a likely destination if he has a good enough camp. I'll guess +3, which is pushing it on the 'good enough' scale.

[Sharkn20]

Ummmm Where we can see the cut test??

[Matt]

Just cut the players and check the FA pool and see what happens. Maybe Nutah can explain the significance of it though better than me.

And don't be like Jake and save/export with all your draft picks cut.

[Sharkn20]

Just cut the players and check the FA pool and see what happens. Maybe Nutah can explain the significance of it though better than me.

And don't be like Jake and save/export with all your draft picks cut.

Thanks man :)

hahahaha great the second opinion!!

[Guest]

I'll jump in here with an explanation since I have 30 minutes until work starts. :)

Your scouts tend to be blind when it comes to masked players on your own roster. They don't realize how good/bad the player really is. So, when you cut them, they're not on your team anymore and you suffer less from that scouting error. If the guy's potential drops - He's probably a dropper. If it goes up - He's probably a creeper.

I probably screwed up some small thing there, but that's the gist of it. I'm sure someone will come in and neaten it up!

[Sharkn20]

Well no creeps for me this year... Only expect drops :(

Damn Sharks class...

[Aston]

Antonio Mitting goes +7 and shows up with a surprisingly high level of blocking strength (okay, it's 4) to secure our future at the position.

The question is now going to be which guard, if any, we throw to center. Rookie Ryan Thingvold is pretty tempting for that given how good he is, but I always thought of him as more of a guard. He might stay.

[Aston]

While Utah's offensive line looks to have put itself in a position of renewing its strength for years to come, the defensive line is in a similar amount of trouble.

NT Harris Wheeler isn't viewed as a long-term solution in Utah because of his escalating contract, but no replacement has been found yet.

Both starting DEs took big age drops this year, with Logan going -12 and Tyler going -8. They're both south of 50, and this makes last year's trade of Junior Bello to Punxsutawney for a 2nd a blowout loss of cosmic proportions.

Bello's now 66 rated, coming off a 10-sack, 34-hurry, 33-knockdown year, and has 100 PRT.

Last year's rookie Ted Kau will have to step up very big this year, as he could be making a push to start.

The 7th round of our draft appears to have been a series of 5 highly misguided indulgences, ha.

[Aston]

2028 Training Camp Report | Utah Bees

<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Vandersommen absent</span>
Longtime Utah WR3 seeks raise

Missing from the 70-man roster in the final week of training camp, as teams prepare to set preseason rosters, is last season's leading receiver for the Bees, Hunter Vandersommen.

It's not the first time Vandersommen has missed time in Utah. Midseason last year, he was kept inactive for three games due to undisclosed personal reasons. This time, however, he's holding out.

Although he's now in his 11th year, Vandersommen filled in admirably for the injured Alvin Foley early last season, and even kept rival Bryan Sidharta off the field after Foley's return. He's been a key figure in each of Utah's last three playoff runs, and to date, has only been paid at the literal veteran minimum.

It's been argued that Vandersommen has merely been thriving in the Utah system; another example of a marginally talented receiver being put to maximal use. But if Utah wants to retain those services, perhaps it's time to reward a lengthy career of solid production.

<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Scouting Report: Ruh-roh RB roes</span>
Leading rusher Green drops 9 points OVR this camp, from 44/44 to 35/35.

Last season's breakout star, Ryan Green, has by all accounts had a phenomenally bad camp.

"Coaches are quite surprised at how much it seems he's lost a step," writes SI.com's Peter Bling. "He's showed up at camp overweight, lacking in concentration, struggling in all the drills. It just reeks of complacency. I think after last year, the year he had, he just had a much higher estimation of his abilities and wasn't expecting a fight."

The 5th-year back was quiet for two seasons before emerging in 2026 as the team's #2 runner, and then taking over the top spot in '27 following Earnest Giang's retirement.

Green's ascension to the starting role was a surprise after Utah's drafting of a RB in round 1 that year, but he averaged nearly 5 yards a carry and demonstrated a high level of ball security. In '26 and '27 combined, Green carried 325 times for 1570 yards (4.83 avg) and 10 TDs.

"Right now Utah coaches are just looking around, wondering what happened," says ESPN Radio's Jim Wome Is Bwuwning. "I think they expected him to really take his game to the next level, but it's been just the opposite. He's really fallen apart in their eyes and it's come as an unpleasant shock. This team didn't invest at all in RB this offseason, when they had plenty of opportunity to."

Michael Glenn - last year's round 1 pick at RB - hasn't taken hold of the job yet, and it's still anyone's game. Even still, Green is looking like the odd man out in the league's worst (by talent) RB situation. For a guy who was just a few weeks ago considered a rising star, that's one precipitous drop in fortunes.

Don't be left in the dust...

Life moves fast in the OSFL. Everyone knows that only stands for Not For Long...er,...Only So F'n Long? .... Point is, teams won't wait. While the Bees have less starpower at RB than every other team in the league, what they do have is a group of hungry, younger backs eager to take any spot that opens up.

Apart from their first-round second-year....

Gilbert Money 26/26, the 3rd-year speedster from Cal. He's the fastest back on the team by a considerable distance, but has yet to flash it on the field. There's a reason he went undrafted.

Seth Meier 31/39, a 6th round pick by Chicago last year and cut early in the season. Meier is new to the Bees and a total unknown.

Trent Adams 30/38, an undrafted free agent rookie for Utah this year, highlighted on several occasions by reporters attending practice for being a regular on the #1 ST coverage teams. The Bees cut two RBs considered prized ST assets just before camp this year, a strong sign of their confidence in Adams.

Josh Clovis 28/39, a 6th round pick for Utah this year. The OSFL Network's Mike Mayflop assessed him as 'similar body type, similar skillset, similar draft position' to Green. Could the Bees feel they have a doppleganger in place for their declining starter?

[Aston]

And don't be like Jake and save/export with all your draft picks cut.

Haha, just seeing these now! I remember that one, woops! hehehe

Foos was spot on, and also, it's at least a theory that the better your scout is rated, the worse he is with masked players. Which ends up being a good thing, if that makes sense, because the cut test is very informative.